8 



in north ; cherries, plums and pears in full bloom ; peaches 

 short ; tobacco plants in excellent condition. 



Week ending May 15. — New England. Boston : Clear 

 weather favored farm work ; rain badly needed in central 

 sections ; showers in south very beneficial ; fruit promising ; 

 drought retards growth of grass and corn ; acreage of pota- 

 toes large; early vegetables doing well; preparation for 

 tobacco planting in progress. 



Week ending May 22. — New England. Boston : Cloudy, 

 cold weather retards vegetation ; showers occurred through- 

 out the district and were beneficial, but more rain is needed ; 

 planting progressed in north ; short crop apples indicated, 

 other fruit more promising ; caterpillars in north destroying 

 foliage ; frosts in Maine damaged early vegetation. 



The Weather op May, 1899. 



The present month of May will be recorded in meteoro- 

 logical history as remarkably deficient in precipitation. 

 This feature will alone characterize the month, as the tem- 

 perature element, while considerably variable during dif- 

 ferent periods, has been on the whole about normal. It 

 will be remembered that April* also gave a deficiency in 

 rainfall, and the drought has continued uninterruptedly 

 during May, thus forming a rather unusual circumstance 

 for the season of the year, and thereby rendering crop pros- 

 pects at the present time somewhat vague. At Boston, the 

 total rainfall for the month is but 0.81 inch, or 2.80 inches 

 below the established normal for the station. In other por- 

 tions of Massachusetts the same condition has obtained, par- 

 ticularly in the southeastern part of the State. The number 

 of days with a measurable amount of precipitation averages 

 about as usual, but there has been no good, soaking rain 

 during the month, such as is necessary at this time of the 

 year. 



Comparison with the records of previous months of this 

 name shows that the precipitation is the smallest since 1870, 

 when the Weather Service was established. In May, 1879, 

 the rainfall was considered very light, but it was some .16 

 of an inch greater than during the present month. 



